Sarah Richling
Psychology 400
Dr. Kenniston
September 27, 2006
Paper 1
The school of thought in psychology that I most closely identify myself with is methodological behaviorism. Behavior analysis is the science that studies environmental events that change behavior (Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968). Behaviorists take a hedonistic approach to learning. This involves the basic idea that an organism will seek pleasure (reinforcement) and avoid pain (punishment). The organism will then "learn" from this environmental experience and will shape future behavior of the organism.
This principle also leads into the idea that behavior is controllable and predictable. We can answer questions about the organism by looking at the environmental conditions it is subjected to. Behaviorists may also assume that humans and animals are alike, but humans are capable of more complex learning. In addition, complex behavior is thought to be reducible to simple laws of behavior and is not......
Join Now or Login to view the rest of this paper.
Approximate Word Count: 1822
Approximate Pages: 8 (260 words per double-spaced page) |